Windshield wiper



WINDSHIELD WIPEB.

` Filed oct. 28. 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet -1 .Inzamam QBRAMMING A' 2,229,718

wmasnIELn WIPER C. BRAMMING wI-NDsHIELn wIPER .Filed on. 28, 1935 Jan. 28, 1941.

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Patented'Janpzs, 194i* 2,229,718

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicEf WINDSHIELD WIPER Carl Bramming, Gary, Ind., assigner, by mesne assignments, to Productive Inventions, Inc., Gary, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application October 28, 1,935, Serial No. 47,116

2 Claims. (Cl. 15-255) This invention relates to windshield wipers, a novel arrangement for adjusting the arm conand particularly to the arm thereof by which the necting means to permit of mounting a pair of wiping element is supported and operatively conarms at relatively different distances from each nected to an actuating member, such as a shait other. 5 or other suitable device. K A further object of the invention is to provide 5 One object of the present invention is to pro'- means for controlling or determining the movevide a sectional wiper arm which may be readily mentor throw of the wiper arms in their operaadjusted to various lengths for positioning the tion. wiping element at various distances from the A still further object of the invention is to actuating member, and to provide simple and improve devices of the character describedin 10 eicient means for yieldingly maintaining the sundry details hereinafter referred to and parrespective sections of the arm in various positicularly pointed out in the appended claims. tions of adjustments. One embodiment of the present invention is' Another object of the invention is to provide shown for illustrative purposes in the accomtherewith for urging the arm and wiping ele- Fig. l is a side view of my improved wiper arm ment toward the Windshield, and wherein a novel illustrating its application to a wiping element construction and arrangement is provided for and actuating member operatively related to a the tensioning of said resilient means and for windshield;

assembling the tensioning means in relation to Fig..2 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the 20 said arm. improved arm shown in Fig. l, and taken sub- Another object of the invention is to provide stantially as indicated by the line 2-2 of Fig. 3; a wiper arm strong enough to carry loads en- Fig. 3 is a rear elevational view of the struccountered in service without breakage of the ture shown in Figs. 1 and 2, taken as viewed from arm adjacent the shaft or to the actuating memthe right side thereof; T 4.

ber. Fig. 4 is a front view, partly in section, of the Another object of the invention is to provide improved arm as viewed from the left side of a wiper arm which, together with the wiping ele- Fig. 1, a cover member shown in Fig. l having ment, may be swung or moved outwardly away been removed;

from the windshield and yieldingly retained in Fig. 5 isa side view of the improved wiper arm 30 said upper position, thereby providing free and illustrating the manner of yieldingly maintainunobstructed access to the windshield for washing a portion of the arm and wiping element in ing or other manual cleaning. raised position away from the windshield to Another object of the invention is to provide a facilitate washing or manual cleaning thereof; novel construction and arrangement whereby Fig. 6 is an enlarged transverse sectional view 35 certain of the arm sections are yieldingly maintaken substantially as indicated by the line 6--6 tained in various positions of relative longltudof Fig. 3;

inal adjustment with respect to each other. Fig. 7 is an enlarg d longitudinal sectional ele- Another object of the invention is to provide vational view of the structure for retaining pora wiper arm which may be readily applied 60 tions of the device in relative longitudinal ad- 40 and disconnected from its actuating member, justment with respect to each other, and taken and wherein the means for varying the tension Substantially as indicated by the lines 1 1 of o certain resilient means associated with the arm Fig. 8; may be conveniently sin? readily adjusted to vary Fig. 8 is a side elevational view, partly in sec- 45 gefessure of the WPmg element o the-Wind' tion, of the structure illustrated in Fig. 'z as Another object of the invention is to provide vlewed from the right .gde thereof m Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a portion of eans for maintaining certain cooperating por- Fi 7 d 8 tions of the device in proper alignment for efiithe structilre illustrated m gs' an u o cient operation Flg. 1S a fron-t elevational vie-W illustra' ng Another object ofthe invention is to provide a the manner 0f afiivsiably connectmg a* Pair 0f novel construction and arrangement whereby a arms i90 Operate 1n UDISOH;

pair of arms of improved construction may be Fig. ll is an enlarged front elevational. view readily connected together to operate in unison. 0f the connecting means illustrated in Fig. 10

Another object of the invention is to provide having portions thereof broken away to more l5 a wiper arm having resilient means associated panying drawings, in which: 5.

clearly illustrate certain of the associated elements;

Fig. 12 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the clips or brackets employed in securing the connecting means to the respective arms; and

Fig. 13 is an enlarged transverse sectional elevational view taken as indicated by the line I3-I3 of Fig. l1.

In the drawings, I5 designates a windshield having a wiper arm actuating member I6 shown, in the present instance, as a shaft rotatably mounted in a frame I1 of the windshield, and provided, in the present instance, with a transversely extending aperture or recess I8 formed therein, preferably, adjacent the outer end there- My improved wiper arm. indicated as a whole by the numeral I9, comprises an inner section 2 I, an intermediate section 22 pivotally connected to the inner section as by a pin 23, and an outer section 24, preferably, of channel formation in cross section and slidably mounted with respect to the intermediate section through a tapered guide portion 22a thereof, the outer section 24 having its extreme outer or lower end portion and spaced from the hook, as indicated at 29, for receiving the sides of the connector 26 between the channel sides 29 and the hook 25.

The inner section 2| comprises, preferably, a pair of oppositely disposed side portions 3| connected together adjacent their central portion by a hollow rivet 32 and having outwardly faced recesses 33 formed therein at opposite sides thereof adjacent the rivet 32, the upper ends of the side portions 3| .being spaced to receive the actuating member I5 and provided with apertures 34 adapted to receive a pin 35 extending through the aperture I8 of the actuating member I6 for securing the arm and actuating member together, a clamping screw 3Ia being employed for clamping the upper ends of the side portions 3| against the sides of the actuating member I6.

Pivotally mounted on the pin 23 in a manner to swing in a plane substantially perpendicular to the wind-shield is the intermediate arm section 22 comprising a transversely elongated U- shaped structure, best illustra-ted in Fig. 6, and

having inwardly extending edge portions 36 provided on their inner faces with -protuberances 31 adapted to be engaged by a-resilient detent, indicated as a whole by Athe numeral 38 (Figs. 2 and 9), mounted on the inner end portion of the outer section 24, the said detent being formed of resilient material and provided with laterally extending curved wing portions 39 adapted to be positioned between the protuberances 31, and having a projection 4I positioned in an aperture 42 formed in the laterally bent portion 43 formed at the extreme inner end of the section 24, the detent 36 being provided also with aleg portion 44 adapted .to be positioned between the legs of the channel forming the section 24 in a manner with-the protuberances 31 formed on the inner face of the inwardly extending edge portions 36 of the intermediate section 22.

It will be apparent from the foregoing de- `inwardly as scription that the outer section 24 may be moved longitudinally in either direction within the U- shaped portion of the intermediate section 22 in a manner to adjus-tably vary the length of the arm I9 to position the wiper blade at various distances from the actuating member I6, the dctent 38 being yieldable during such movement to permit the portions 39 to pass over the protuberances 31 and Ato be positioned between the protuberances, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 7, to yieldingly secure the outer section 24 in adjusted position with respect to 'the intermediate section 22.

For urging the intermediate section 22, outer section 24 and wiper blade 26 toward the windshield, a contact element, shown in the present instance as a roller, indicated as a whole by the numeral 45. is rotatably mounted on a shaft 46 carried by the inner section 2l at a point below and to Ithe rear of the pin 23, as clearly shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5, and mounted on the intermediate section 22 is a leaf spring 41 having recesses 48 formed in its opposite edge portions adjacent one end thereof adapted to receive, respectively, a plurality of lugs 49 formed on the intermediate section 22 and adapted to be bent clearly shown in Fig 3 and 6 for securing the spring 41 to the intermediate section 22, the opposite end of the spring 41 being extended upwardly into engagement with the contact element or roller 45 and provided adjacent its free end with a ridge 5I adapted to engage an annular groove 52 formed in the roller 45 for main-taining the spring in proper alignment and in engagement With the roller.

For varying the tension of the spring 41, a slide or yoke, indicated as a-whole by th numeral with an opening 54 adapted to receive the intermediate section 22 and spring 41 in a manner to slide lthereon, and Witha plurality of recesses 55 communicating with said opening for receiving the 53 and intermediate arm section 22 when the curing the spring 41 to the intermediate section 22, the yoke 53 being provided also with an intermediate portion 56 adapted to engage the spring 41, the innermost pair of the bent down lugs 49 serving to secure the yoke 53 against accidental displacement with It will-be observed by such an arrangement that the tension of the spring 41 may be varied by moving the yoke 53 into various positions longitudinally thereof, the intermediate section 22 being provided with a pair of protuberances or projections 51 at opposite sides thereof for lim` iting the movement of the yoke. I

- By reference to Figs. 2 and 5, particularly Fig. 2, it will be apparent that when the free end of the spring 41 is in engagement with the contact element or roller 45, at one side of a line, indicated by the characters A-B extending through the pivotal center 23 of the arm and the axis of rotation 46 of the roller 45, that the tension of the spring 41 acts to yieldingly urge vthe intermediate section 22 and outer section 24 of the arm toward the windshield, and by reference to Fig. 5, it will be apparent that when the free end of the spring 41 is in engagement with the contact element or roller 45 on the opposite side of the line A-B, the tension of .the spring 41 will act to urge the sections 22 and 24 in the opposite direction and to maintain the pivoted the direction of movement changes, thereby causing an Ioutward movement of the -free end of the arm section 24 away.` from the surface of the windshield. By positioning the contact element or roller 45 below the pivotal cen-ter 23 as shown in the present drawings, such movement' will tend to increase Ithe effective length of the spring 41, thereby reducing the eiective pressure of the spring 41, thus it will be apparent that by placing the roller 45 lower Athan the pivot pin 23 on which theintermediate section 22 is hingedly connected to .the inner section 2|, the present arrangement provides not only a denite method of parking the arm .away from .the windshield, but the action is such that as the intermediate section 22 assumes dierent angles with relation to the inner section 2| due to outward movement of the free end of the arm section 24 caused by the opping of the blade from one side to another. the effective length of the spring varies to avoid excessive pressure during the iiopping movement of the blade.

Referringparticularly to Figs. 5, and 10 to 13, inclusive, it will be apparent that a pair of arms |9 and |9a may be connected together to operate in unison as illustrated in Fig. 10, the arm I9 being connected to the actuating member I6 as clearly shown in Figs, 1, 2 and 3, and the arm |9a being secured to a sleeve 58 rotatably mounted on a pin or stud 59 carried by the windshield frame. The connecting member, indicated as a whole by the numeral 60, in the present instance, comprises a pair of aligned bars 6| and 62 having brackets 63 and 64 pivotally mounted adja-v cent their respective outer ends by means of pivot pins 55, the brackets 63 and 64 being provided with apertured lugs 66 adapted to straddle the inner sections 2| of the arms I9 and |9a adjacent the recesses 33 formed at the opposite side of the inner sections and are adapted to be secured thereto by means of bolts 61 extending therethrough and through the hollow rivet 32 mounted in the inner sections 2| of the arms, the brackets 63 and 64 being provided with a flange portion 61a adapted to be positioned between the side portions 3| of the inner sections 2| to assist in `maintaining the bracketin alignment therewith.

The connectingmember 60 also comprises an elongated substantially U-shaped channel member 68 having an elongated recess 68a (Fig. 13) formed in the bottomA and extending longitudinally of the channel member and terminating inwardly from the opposite endsthereof as clearly shown in Figs. 10 and 11, the member 68 also having inwardly extending edge portions 69 adapted to slidably receive the inner ends of the bars 6| and 62 in a manner to maintain the bars in substantial alignment with each other. For positioning and securing the U-shaped channel member and the bars 6| and 62 in various positions of longitudinal adjustment' with respect to each other, a pair of apertured plates 1| are positioned outside the inwardly extending edge portions 69 and a plurality of screw-threaded bolts 12 extend through the apertures in the plates 1| into threaded engagement with screw-threaded apertures 13 formed in the bars 6| and 62 for vlamping the inwardly extending edge portions 69 between the bars and the plates 1| for securing the bars and channel member 68 in various positions of longitudinal adjustment and to provide an efiicient connection between the arms |9 and |9a when positioned at various distances from each other, the ends of the bolts 12 extending into the elongated recess 68a, as clearly shown in Fig. 13, in a manner to engage the opposite ends of the recess to prevent complete separation of the bars 6| and 62 from the member 68 in the event that the bolts 12 are slightly loosened to permitrelative longitudinal sliding movement of the member 68 and the bars 6| and |52.v

For limiting the throw'of the arms I9 and |9a in their wiping movement, a stop member 14 formed, preferably, of resilient material, such as rubber or the like, is provided with a stud 15 (Fig. 5) having an aperture 16 formed therein adapted to receive one or the other of the bars 6| or 62 (Figs. 10 and 11) illustrating the stop as mounted on the bar 6|, and also in Fig. 5, inasmuch as the sectioned portion of Fig. 5 is shown as taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. 10, and for se- 'curing the stop member in various positions4 of adjustment with respect to the bar 6|, a screw 11 is mounted in a threaded aperture 18 formed in the stud 15 and extending therethrough into engagement with the bar 6| as clearly illustratedv in Fig. 5.

Although the stop member 14, as shown in Figs. 10 and 11, is positioned to be engaged by the arm |9a when the arms are moved in one direction, it will be observed that if desired, another stop member, similar to that indicated at 14, may be positioned on the bar 62 in a manner to be engaged by the arm |9 when the arms are moved in the opposite direction.

By such an arrangement, it will be apparent that a pairof arms of substantially uniform construction may be mounted on a windshield frame as desired and connected together to operate in unison by means of the connecting member 60 having the brackets 63 and 64 secured thereto 'and` which are adapted to be readily and conshown and described as the same may be variously modified. Moreover, all the features of the -invention need not beused conjointly as the same may be used to advantage in variously different combinations and subcombinations.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination with an actuating member operatively related to a windshield, of an arm mounted on said memberand comprising an inner section and a second section, said inner section having a contact element rotatably mounted thereon and having one of its end portions rigidly secured to said .y

actuating member, said contact element having. an annular groove formed therein, said sec-- ond section comprising a member having one of its ends pivotally mounted on said inner section adjacent one end thereof between said contact element and the opposite end of the., inner section for movement in a plane substantially perpendicular to the windshield, a leaf spring secured adjacent one of its ends to said second section and having an elongated ridged portion adjacent its opposite end engaging the annular groove in said rotatable contact element for retaining the ridged portion of the spring against relative element. l

2. In a windshield wiper arm, the combination of an inner section and a second section, said inner section comprising a member adapted to be secured to the actuating member of a windshield wiper mechanism and having a rotatable contact element mounted adjacent its free end, said contact element having an annular groove formed therein, said second section comprising a. transversely elongated U-shaped member having one of its ends pivotally mounted on said inner section at a point intermediate said contact element displacement laterally with respect to the contact and the other end thereof for movement ina' plane substantially perpendicular to a windshield, and a leaf spring secured to said second section adjacent the free end thereof on the open side of said U-shaped structure, said leaf spring extending along said second section to said contact element of said inner section, and being provided with a portion formed to cooperate with said annular groove to retain said spring against relative displacement laterally with respect -to l0 said contact element.

CARL BRAMMING. 

